5 Controversial Topics In The Tech Industry

5 years ago | Posted in: Articles, Technology | 1663 Views

There will always be controversy. People take offense at some stuff, while others do not. Sometimes, the controversy is because of an actual event that a company made the wrong decision with. The controversies happen. What is the real test of the companies involved is how they handle the situation. There are some that are bigger than others, though. Some are just a one time event and some are ongoing. People can learn from these and, hopefully, stop similar problems from occurring. Here are some of the biggest controversies in technology that have caused the rest of the world to chime in on.

Patent Trolls

Patent trolls are those people or companies that buy patents to use them to make money. These trolls do not actually do anything for the economy, but are able to use the legal system to destroy people and companies with patents that rarely are of any other use. This has led to a call from many people that the patent system needs to be reformed or destroyed. Basically, here is what happens. John Q. Public makes a revolutionary new piece of de-duplication software, for example. The interface has a vague bit in it that could be similar to a broadly written patent that was made years ago. The troll comes to Mr. Public and demands a certain percentage of profits. The courts usually back the troll almost every time.

Cars driving themselves

Self-driving cars seem to attract attention and controversy. The technology itself has seen lawsuits, as various companies go to court over specific lines of programming. All of this is causing the technology to increase costs without any actual benefit. Another bit of controversy is the fact that people have either been hurt or killed by these cars. Never mind that vehicle accident are extremely common the world over, the news focused on these accidents. There were calls for investigations from all corners.

Dominance versus monopoly

Companies, along with dealing with competition, have been having to deal with governments to stay in the market. If a company, Microsoft being the best example, becomes dominant, they now have to worry about some government suing them claiming a monopoly. Market dominance in software means that a lot of competition is hurt. The thing is, there is no monopoly. When Windows was called a monopoly, Apple, Linux, and several other operating systems existed. The problem is that politicians want to look like they are doing something and these cases bring headlines.

Things don’t last as they used to

Companies need customers to survive. One of the ways in which they keep these customers is to make products that will not stand the test of time. Customers are now complaining about this more and more. Another reason that people are complaining is because of what it does to the environment. The rare earths involved in much of the technology are starting to be more in landfills than the earth. The whole of it even causes politically conservative people to wonder what is going through the minds of these company officials.

Information leaks

Many companies, especially ones holding personal information, can not seem to protect it. Hacking and other crimes are being committed to stealing the identities of people. The information is being used to allow illegal aliens the ability to live in this country and for thieves to get free money. Both of these cause billions in costs for the people who have their identities stolen. People have their lives destroyed so that people can live off their hard work. All of this is because big tech companies collect too much information and spend too little to protect them.

There are many technology controversies. These five are just some of the ones that affect everyday people.

by: Dennis Hung

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